Attachment for hospital beds



M. ALLYN ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Jan. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed May 9, 1947 Jan. 2, 1951 M. ALLYN 2,536,707

ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed May 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 iuuimi i ruml "KEEN-1H1.

Jan. 2, 1951 ALLYN ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledMay 9, 1947 Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICEAT-TAGHMENT FOR HO SPILTAL, BEDS Martha Allyn, West Haven, C'onn..

Applicatiunr May9;.1947, Serialfi No. 747:,061

4' Claims. 1

This, invention. relates. to an apparatus for use with hospital. beds,and more: particularly to an apparatus designed for use in handlingpatients confined. to. beds.

Itis often convenient to raise an invalid or bedv patient from themattress of the bed for various reasons, and the present invention pro--vides a device which performsthisfunction with.- out excessive efforton. the partof. the operator. Moreover, when a patient is confined to abed, there is a tendency for the patient to slip toward the foot of thebed. and it is necessary to. movethem toward the head. This: often.isdi-fficult. for anurse to do, particularly if the patient is heavy.

I also contemplate: by the present invention the provision of a deviceby which the patient: maybe moved toward the foot or the head of thebed. conveniently and easily and without excessive effort on the partof. the nurse or the person takins care of the. patient.

The apparatus of the. present; inventioncomprises a device or framewhich is supported from. the floor adjacent the bed, and which may bereadily disassembled into four sections, each con.-

taining one of the corner posts of the frame; so i that the device maybe readily detached from, or placed in cooperative: relation to; the bedwithwhich it is used.. Supported upon. this frame which rests upon thefloor is a belt or webt upon:

which the patient is supported, this web being 7 may be raised andlowered, so that the patient.

may be lowered upon the bed. mattress or may beraised above the mattressas desired.

When the patient is raised above themattress and supported by the: webor belt, the latter is: inclined to sag. To prevent excessive. saggingof the. web, a net-likeframe is provided below the: same. to limit. the.amount.- by which, itmay sag, this frame or support being formed ofrelativelywidethinv strips of metal or the like, sothat, while it willoffer sufficient support to the. partition, it will not be uncomfortablewhen the. patient. lies upon it.

One object. of the. present invention isto provide a new andv improveddevice for use in handling bedridden patients.

v A further object. of the. invention is to provide: a frame which maybe supported upon. the floor in. cooperative relation, to. bed. withwhich. it. is to be. used, the. device being separable into.

sections, so that it may be. readily assembled or disassembled.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described in which a web or belt is supported upon the upperends of four uprights, which in turn are. carried by the:

four corner posts of the frame of the apparatus, the: arrangemen-ts.being. such that. the uprights may be sinmltaneousl-y raisedandlowered,so that the. weight of the patient may be carried by the mattress of thebed when the web is in its lower position, or so that the patient may beraised from the: mattress and: the weight carried by the web when it isin an: upper position. v

A still further object of, the invention is to provide in a. device ofthe character described above means for preventing excessive sagging ofthe web when the patient is supported thereon.

To these and other endsthe invention consists in the novel: features andcombinations of parts tc-be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the: accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention Fig.2is a sectionalview of one end of the apparatus taken.on1ine-2'-2. ofvFig. 3 ;1

Fig. 3 is an end elevational. view of the appa ratus;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View of the apparatus on line 4 t ofFig; 9;

Fig. 5 is a; detail, sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig, 6* is a fragmentary detail view of one of the floor-supports;-

Fig. 7 is a sectional. View showing the manner of. joining thehorizontal tubular frame members of the attachment;

Fig. 8 isa view taken on line 8B- of Fig. 9, showing the supportingframe; and

Fig. 9- is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in cooperativeposition with relation tothebed.

'lio iil-ustratera preferred embodiment of my invention and its relationwith respect to a bed with: whichit is toibe usedl have shown in Fig. 9of the drawings abed frame comprising a head member 58, afoot port on H,side rails l2, and theusual mattress i=3, allof which may be of theusual form as no of the preesnt invention reiatestothe construction ofthe bed itself.

The device for supporting and. handling the patient comprises a framewhich includes four cerner posts M, these posts preferably being hollow.To each. of these corner posts is secured by any suita. le method, suchas welding, for example, an. L-shaped bracket 55,. the posts being sec;e at the angle of the bracket, so that one t arms of the bracket extendstransversely: than .me and. the other longitudinally of the ne. To eachof the. brackets i5 is. secured a tubular frame member it: which extendslongitudinally of the frame and a second tubular frame member iiwhichextends transversely of the frame or across the end. thereof. Thelongitudinally extending members it may be secured togather when theparts; are in assembled relation by a tubular coupling member [8, which,as shown more particularly in Fig. 7, telescopically receives theadjacent end portions of the members I6, and is detachably secured inplace by headed pins [9, which pass through the coupling member andthrough openings in the frame member 15.

In like manner, as shown in Fig. 4, the transverse frame members H aredetachably secured together by a coupling member 25 and pins 2! similarto the coupling member l8 and pins i9 previously described. With thisconstruction, it will be seen that, when the pins [9 and 2| are removed,the coupling members l8 and 20 may be moved to release the frame membersit and I1, whereby the frame construction thus far described may beseparated into four parts, each part being substantially one-quarter ofthe frame and comprising one of the corner posts M.

It may also be noted that, as shown in Figs. 1

and 9, for example, the longitudinally extending frame members itadjacent the head It of the bed is slightly longer than thecorresponding member i adjacent the foot of the bed, so that thecoupling member is is not precisely at the longitudinal center of thedevice. This arrangement enables the securing to the longer frame memberit a supporting foot 23, shown more especially in Fig. 6, whichsupporting foot tends to support the frame between its ends.

As shown in this figure of the drawings, the foot 23 is provided withforked upper legs 2 and 25 provided with eyes 26 and Z'l which arepivoted to brackets 28 and 29 secured to the frame members it, so thatthe foot members 23 may be folded upwardly to an out-of-the-way positionwhen the weight of the patient rests on the mattress cf the bed and isnot carried by the supporting frame of the lifting device. It will beunderstood, of course, that there is a foot 23 at each longitudinal sideedge of the bed, as shown in Fig. 1.

As has already been stated, the corner posts It are hollow, and in theupper ends of each of these posts is slidably received a tubular member3i having rack teeth 32 provided thereon adjacent its lower end. Also,as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, a shaft 33 is journalled inthe h that, when the shaft 33 is rotated, the members 3! which telescopein the corner posts M will be raised and lowered. It will be understoodthat there is one of the shafts 33 at the head and another at the footof the frame, and each of these shafts are divided adjacent its centralpart, the two sections of the shafts being secured together by adetachable coupling member 35 similar to the coupling members it and 2%,so that the device may be separated into the quarter sections previouslydescribed.

Also journalled in the transversely extending portions of the bracketmembers I5 is a longitudinally extending shaft 3?, this shaft beingbroken into three sections and provided with coupling members 38securing the sections together, as shown more especially in Fig. 1. Ateach end of the shaft 3'! is a crank handle 39 by which it may berotated, and also adjacent each end of this shaft a worm 40 is securedthereon, which worm meshes with a pinion 4| secured upon the shaft 33.It will be apparent that, with this construction, rotation of the shaft31 by one of the cranks 39 either at the head or foot of the frame willeffect rotation of the pinions 4i and of the shafts 33, which will inturn effect rotation of the pinions 34 to raise or lower the cornersupporting elements 3 I.

Mounted upon the supporting elements 3! is the device for supporting thepatient. Telescopically received over the upper ends of each of themembers 3| is a sleeve 45, each of these sleeves being slottedtransversely to receive bearing blocks 46 and 41, in which blocks arerotatably mounted shafts 48 and 48 to which are secured rolls 5!} and5!, which rolls will preferably be formed of rubber or similar frictionmaterial having a certain amount of resilience, so that the bite betweenthese rolls may be adjusted in a manner similar to that of the ordinaryclotheswringer. An adjusting screw 52 secured at the top of each of thesleeves 45 will serve to adjust or release the pressure upon the rolls5i! and 5|.

At one end of each of the shafts 48 and 49 are secured meshing pinions53 and 54, and each of the shafts is extended slightly at one end fromthe adjacent sleeve 45, and is provided with a squared end 55 to whichmay be fitted a crank 56 (Fig. 1) whereby rotation of the rolls may beeffected.

Trained about the upper rol s 5! at the head and foot of the frame is anendless belt 53, which may be made of heavy webbing, such as canvas, forexample, so that it will be of sufficient strength to support a patient.By rotation of the cranks 55, the upper run of the belt 53 upon whichthe patient is supported may be moved toward the head or foot of theframe, and, therefore, toward the head or foot Of the bed, thus movingthe patient in one direction or the other. In order that the weight ofthe patient upon the web will not tend to bend the corner posts of theframe inwardly, braces 59 may be provided at each corner, these bracesextending longitudinally of the frame.

Secured to the sleeve members 45 at the head of the frame and, likewise,at the foot of the frame and extending transversely of the frame aretransverse elements Bil (Fig. 4) to provide the end members for thesupporting frame shown in Fig. 8, which frame lies below the lowerrollers 50. This frame is made of a plurality of relatively wide thinmetal straps 6! which may, if desired, be covered with fabric or the lie, although this is not necessary. Extending transversely across thelongitudinal members 8! are similar relatively wide and very thin straps62 which may be secured to the straps 5| by welding, riveting, or in anydesired fashion. This structure forms a very thin supporting frame whichwill prevent the belt or web 58 from sagging unduly and will normallysupport the patient when the web 58 is in its raised position, as thelatter will normally sag enough for the weight of the patient to becarried by the longitudinally extending metal straps 5 i It will benoted that, while the upper and lower runs of the web 58 are shown intaut condition in Fig. l, which will be the case when no weight iscarried thereby, nevertheless, when a patient is carried on the webbing,it will normally have sufiicient stretch, so that the runs will sag downupon the longitudinally extending straps 55, but, as the latter are madeof metal and will, therefore, not stretch to an appreciable extent, anyfurther sagging of the endless web 58 will be prevented.

As shown in Fig. 9, the frame of my device is slightly shorter than theframe of the bed, so that the transversely extending members I1 willpass under the bed rails I2 between the head and foot of the bed. Withthis construction, it willbe seen that, when the frame of my device is'disassembled into its quarter sections, as described above, it may bereadily set up in cooperative relation with the bed simply by slidingthe transverse members ll under th bed rails from each corner thereofand connecting these members by the coupling members 20 and alsoconnecting the longitudinal members l6 by the coupling Y members I8. Ina similar manner, the device may be readily removed from the bed if itsuse is not desired by detaching the coupling members I and 20, thusSeparating the device into the four sections, so that it may bereadilyremoved. It will, of course, be understood that the couplingmembers 35 and 38 will likewise be detached, so that the shafts 33 and3'! are likewise separated into sections.

It will also be understood that ,the sleeves 45 telescope freely overthe upper ends of the members 3|, although making a snug telescopic fittherewith. Therefore, after the frame of the device has been put intoplace, the upper frame comprising the rolls 50 and 5!, together with thesleeves 45 and transverse members 60, may be put in place with thesleeves 45 telescoping over the elements 3 I. When it is desired todisassemble the device, this upper supporting frame is, of course,removed prior to the detachment of the coupling members 18 and 20.

The upper and lower runs of the belt 58 may be provided with openings orslots, as shown at 58 (Fig. 1) to facilitate the use of a bedpan by thepatient. Also, it may be noted that by detaching one of the couplingmembers 38 on the longitudinal shaft 31 either end of the uppersupporting frame may be raised or lowered independently 0f the otherend, so that the height of one end of this frame may be adjustedrelatively to the other end.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided a device whichmay be economically constructed and which may be easily and convenientlyassembled and disassembled in cooperative relation with a bed, and thatwith the use of the device the patient may be either lowered upon thebed mattress as will normally be the case, or when it is desired thepatient may be raised from the mattress and comfortably supported in aposition above the mattress.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangularframe comprising corner posts, transverse end members connecting theposts at the end of the frame, longitudinal side members connecting theposts at the sides of the frame, each of said members being divided intosections, one end of each section being secured to each of said posts,detachable coupling members for securing the sections together betweenthe posts whereby the frame may be disassembled into four sections, abelt member, means for supporting said belt member above the frame forraising and lowering movements, non-extensible supporting straps belowsaid belt member to prevent sagging of the latter, an L-shaped bracketmember carried by each of the corner posts, a longitudinally extendingsection shaft mounted in two of said brackets at one side of the frame,and coupling members connecting together the sections of said shaft,said shaft being connected to said supporting means.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangularframe comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining saidposts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, meansfor raising and lowering said uprights, a cylindrical roller detachablysupported by the uprights at each end of the frame, an endless beltsupported by said rollers, a cooperating cylindrical roller mountedadjacent each of said first-named rollers whereby the belt is grippedbetween cooperating pairs of rollers, means for adjusting the pressurebetween the cooperating pairs of said rollers, and means for drivingsaid rollers in unison.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangularframe comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining saidposts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, meansfor raising and lowering said uprights, a sleeve detachably secured toeach upright, bearings carried by each of said sleeves, a pair ofrollers rotatably supported by the bearings at each end of the frame, abelt carried by said rollers, means for adjusting one roller of eachpair with respect to the cooperating roller to grip the belttherebetween, and means for driving said rollers.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangularframe comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining saidposts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, meansfor raising and lowering said uprights, a roll detachably supported bythe uprights at each end of the frame, an endless belt supported by saidrolls, said raising and lowering means comprising rack teeth on saidupright, a shaft mounted in the frame at each end thereof and havingpinions thereon meshing with said rack teeth, a third shaft extendinglongitudinally of the frame and drivingly connected with both of saidfirst-named shafts, said end members comprising detachably connectedsections, said side members comprising detachably connected sections,said longitudinal shaft also comprising detachably connected sectionswhereby the structure may be readily disassembled, L-shaped bracketmembers supported upon each of said corner posts, and said shafts beingrotatably mounted in said bracket members.

MARTHA ALLYN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 607,607 Rimmelin July 19, 18981,082,177 Skefiington Dec. 23. 1913 1,100,401 Shaffer June 16, 19141,694,172 Gallowitz Dec. 4, 1928 2,208,410 Carter July 16, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 23,954 Great Britain of 1909 665,431 FranceMay 6, 1929

